Land As A Blessing

I am Davine Witbooi from a small town named Lutzville in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Lutzville has many stories to tell – of abuse, exploitation, oppression and poverty. I too have many stories to tell – of abuse, of victory, of courage. I am a member of a Campaign for Food Sovereignty. Without land life means nothing to me. I believe that the most precious gift human beings have is the ability to grow their own food.

Water and Land cannot exist without each other. When the world is in recession rural people provide food. We use old time methods to farm. We grow indigenous plants and medicinal plants to treat illnesses of people and animals. We eat fresh vegetables from our gardens. The bees in our area still produce pure honey; people in other areas complain that bees are dying out. Agro-ecological farming is the best way for food sovereignty and security. Chemicals destroy our environment and are not good for our health. Our land is rich in minerals. Poison wastes are dumped in our areas and kill my people.

The air is fresh without any pollution that can destroy the ozone layer of the earth. We catch rainwater to water our gardens during the dry season. The rainwater is not toxic. We need to give back to Mother Earth from whom we receive bountiful. We do not make use of technology to get rain; we respect nature and look after our land.

I am blessed.